The problems faced by indigenous peoples in the Sierra Tarahumara, Chihuahua, are no different than most peoples in other parts of the country: lack of legal recognition of their ancestral territories, dispossession of their natural assets (water, forest resources, Medicinal plants, among others), marginalization and exclusion. Situations that demand from Alanza Sierra Madre A.C. (ASMAC) a positioning and implementation of projects that offer options to these peoples.
In the Human Rights Program, ASMAC provides accompaniment and legal advice to the communities Rarámuri Coloradas de la Virgen and Choréachi (Pino Gordo), located in the Municipality of Guadalupe and Calvo, Chihuahua. Legal actions require the recognition of their ancestral territory and preferential access to natural resources as mandated by national and international legislation on Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DHPI). The legal actions undertaken, demand of the Mexican State the full and unrestricted respect and recognition of their rights.
It also promotes awareness-raising and concertation actions with governmental, federal and state institutions, so that in projects where the ancestral territory of indigenous communities is affected, their human rights are recognized and guaranteed.
The insecurity and violence that prevails in the Sierra Tarahumara as a result of the “fight against drug trafficking” undertaken by former President Felipe Calderón in 2006 and adopted by the current president Enrique Peña Nieto in 2012 has left a balance of death, desolation and displacement Forced of families. ASMAC for three years in addition to the defense of territories, accompanies authorities and community leaders victims of harassment and death threats, by caciques linked to economic power, political power and organized crime.